Process for obtaining citrus fiber from citrus pulp

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11623967-B2
Application number	US-201815882481-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 29, 2018
Priority date	Jul 30, 2010
Publication date	Apr 11, 2023
Grant date	Apr 11, 2023

Abstract

A process is disclosed for obtaining citrus fiber from citrus pulp. Citrus fiber is obtained having a c* close packing concentration value of less than 3.8. The citrus fiber can be obtained having a viscosity of at least 1000 mPa.s, wherein said citrus fiber is dispersed in standardized water at a mixing speed of from 800 rpm to 1000 rpm, to a 3 w/w% citrus fiber/standardized water solution, and wherein said viscosity is measured at a shear rate of 5 s-1 at 20° C. Citrus fiber can be obtained having a CIELAB L* value of at least 90. The citrus fiber can be used in food products, feed products, beverages, personal care products, pharmaceutical products or detergent products.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process for preparing citrus fibers from citrus pulp, the process comprising:
treating citrus pulp to obtain homogenized citrus pulp, wherein the treating comprises pressure homogenization;
subjecting the homogenized pulp to a bleaching agent;
washing the homogenized citrus pulp with an organic solvent to obtain organic solvent washed citrus pulp;
feeding the organic solvent washed citrus pulp through a screw press at a speed and pressure to obtain a dry matter content of about 30 wt % or more;
milling the screw pressed citrus pulp for at least 15 minutes;
vacuum drying the milled citrus pulp for at least 90 minutes adding at least 40% (db) of a 60% solvent solution;
vacuum drying the vacuum dried citrus pulp with water at a temperature of at least 95° C. for at least 4 hours to remove the solvent; and
recovering citrus fibers from the citrus pulp, wherein the citrus fiber has a D4,3 value less than 15 micrometers,
wherein the recovered citrus fibers have a moisture content in a range of from 5% to 15% and a c* close packing concentration of less than 3.8 w %, anhydrous basis.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the treating comprises pressure homogenization using a pressure of from 50 bar to 1000 bar.

3. The process according to claim 2 , wherein said treating comprises a single-pass pressure homogenization using a pressure of from 300 bar to 1000 bar.

4. The process according to claim 2 , wherein said treating comprises a multi-pass pressure homogenization comprising at least 2 passes, using a pressure of from 100 bar to 600 bar.

5. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the citrus pulp is subjected to a heat treatment prior to the homogenization treatment at a temperature of from 50° C. to 140° C. for a period of 1 second to 3 minutes.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein said process further comprises subjecting said citrus pulp to a processing aid selected from the group consisting of enzymes, acids, bases, hydrocolloids, vegetable fiber, and combinations thereof.

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the bleaching agent comprises hydrogen peroxide.

8. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the organic solvent is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol, and combinations thereof.

9. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the organic solvent comprises ethanol, isopropanol, or combinations thereof.

10. The process according to claim 9 , wherein the organic solvent further comprises an organic non-polar co-solvent.

11. The process according to claim 10 , wherein the non-polar co-solvent comprises up to 20 wt % of a mixture of a polar organic solvent and the non-polar organic solvent.

12. The process according to claim 10 , wherein the organic non-polar co-solvent comprises ethyl acetate, methyl ethyl ketone, acetone, hexane, methyl isobutyl ketone, toluene, or a mixture thereof.

13. The process according to claim 2 , wherein said treating is a multi-pass pressure homogenization comprising at least 3 passes, using a pressure of from 100 bar to 600 bar.

14. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the organic solvent has a solids-to-solvent weight ratio of at least about 0.5:1.

15. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the organic solvent has a solids-to-solvent weight ratio in a range of from about 1:1 to about 5:1.

16. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the organic solvent has a solids-to-solvent weight ratio in a range of from about 1.5:1 to about 3:1.

17. The process according to claim 1 further comprising applying a processing aid to the citrus pulp.

18. The process according to claim 17 , wherein the processing aid comprises an enzyme, an acid, a base, a hydrocolloid, a vegetable fiber, or a mixture thereof.

19. The process according to claim 17 , wherein the processing aid is applied to the citrus pulp prior to homogenization of the citrus pulp.

20. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the recovered citrus fiber has a diameter of less than 1000 micrometers.

Assignees

• Cargill Inc

Inventors

• Gusek Todd Walter
• Mazoyer Jacques Andre Christian
• Reeder David Hiram
• Wallecan Joel Rene Pierre

Classifications

• A61K36/752

  Citrus, e.g. lime, orange or lemon · CPC title

• A61K2800/48

  Thickener, Thickening system · CPC title

• C08L99/00

  Compositions of natural macromolecular compounds or of derivatives thereof not provided for in groups C08L89/00 - C08L97/00 · CPC title

• A23L33/22

  Comminuted fibrous parts of plants, e.g. bagasse or pulp · CPC title

• A23K20/163

  Sugars; Polysaccharides · CPC title